Does anyone else remember the Computer game Syndicate Wars, in particular the open cut-scene?

The background was roughly that every human worker had a chip implanted in their brain that caused them to see everything as right, bright and happy. The syndicate agents don’t have the chips, and operate in reality, where a powerful religious movement is running around deactivating people’s chips and causing all sorts of disruption. The character in the into is walking down a pleasant city small-town street, the sun is shining, the birds are singing and Mr Policeman is is smiling at him, wishing him a good day.

Then his chip is deactivated.

The sky darkens, the small puffy white clouds stretching out to a perpetual fog. The building shoot up into massive skyscrapers, dirt and grime running down their sides. The bird song turns out to be the noise of the city. The policeman isn’t wishing him a good day, he’s telling him to move on. And he definitely wasn’t carrying an assault rifle before the change.

The actual game dealt more with blowing things up than it did with philosophy, but it was a keen background.

“There are ranks and orders. There are faces at every window. Just be thankful they didn’t send the Men in Mauve.”

— Grant Morrison, “Doom Patrol”